


Ignorance is Pryde

by Hera_Sith



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Darth Tantrum and his Evil Space Ginger, Fix-It, Hux lives, Kylo Lives, M/M, Movie: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Phasma Lives, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21949207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hera_Sith/pseuds/Hera_Sith
Summary: Allegiant General Hux, with help from General Phasma, commits treason against the First Order to force Pryde to make a move and Kylo to end his alliance with Palpatine.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 18
Kudos: 257





	Ignorance is Pryde

**Author's Note:**

> So... Rise of Skywalker was simultaneously the best of the sequels and extremely frustrating with how quickly they had to speed through the story. Not to mention it killed off the rest of my favorite characters... so here's a fix-it to help me sleep at night.

“Did you get it done?” Hux hisses at Phasma, his expression staying perfectly controlled despite the underlying panic in his words. 

Phasma nods once, trying to capture Hux’s gaze with her one remaining eye, though he resists, looking everywhere except her. 

Hux paces back and forth in the confines of the small shuttle on their way back to the Finalizer following their meeting with the rest of the Generals and Kylo Ren on the Steadfast. He idly raises a hand to his mouth, biting at where his fingernails would be were they not covered in leather, immediately throwing it back to his side when he realizes what he’s done. Pathetic--he hasn’t bitten his nails since before he started at the Academy. 

“We’ve officially committed treason once again,” Hux speaks through gritted teeth. “And I don’t have to be a Force user to realize Pryde is going to try and get rid of me. It’s exactly what I would do under the circumstances, and he’s not exactly known for his subtlety. And Vicrul isn’t going to be much of a help either--you know he doesn’t interfere in First Order politics, which in this instance means he’s going to watch that scheming old imperial dance over my fucking corpse.” 

Phasma sits in her seat, mind going a mile a minute before she takes a deep breath and speaks calmly, “Pryde isn’t going to get anywhere near you if I have anything to say about it.”

Hux finally sits in the pilot seat, taking it off autopilot to manually fly it the rest of the way to the Finalizer’s hangar bay, “We’re lucky we haven’t been caught. I’m going out of my damned mind here, Phasma. Ren is fucking around with his girlfriend, Palpatine has a fucking armada, and here we are just waiting for the First Order to be fucking decimated. And now Ren and Ap’lek are going to be watching even more closely and I’m just explaining the whole damned thing aloud. Am I going fucking insane?” 

Phasma meaningfully glances around the shuttle before looking back to Hux, “I don’t see either of them here now.” 

Hux exhales a self-deprecating laugh as he lands the shuttle and turns it off, “Just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not listening to our every word. ” 

As if on cue, Ap’lek appears in the hangar on his own shuttle to transport Phasma to her ship, the Predilection. Phasma stands and salutes Hux, frown marring her face and creating wrinkles where fine lines normally are. Both are aware they’re already pushing their luck having insisted on leaving the meeting together, though Kylo seemed more interested in the Sith Wayfinder than any of his underlings. Perhaps he was finally going to ease off with his overwhelming presence around Hux… 

Just as Hux convinces himself of this, the ship he designed Kylo enters the hangar and the Knight himself jumps out without any acknowledgement he’s seen or heard anyone else around him. With a deep breath in followed by a loud exhale, Hux pulls himself together and marches out of his shuttle after the Supreme Leader, feeling the strange Force presence in the back of his head telling him to do so.

Hux follows behind Kylo at a brisk pace until the Knight turns abruptly on his heel and pushes Hux into the nearest conference room. With the helmet back on, Hux can almost pretend they have traveled back in time to early in their co-commandership, though the red lines connecting the broken pieces back together ruin the image. Unfortunately, a lot has happened in the last five years, leading them to this very moment: Hux, a treasonous Allegiant General staring his Supreme Leader in the helmet and hoping the man doesn’t start digging through his skull like he was an errant Rebel Scum. 

Kylo turns the lights on, though an entire row has burned out, leaving the two of them partially in shadow. After staring at Hux’s non-expression for nearly an entire minute, Kylo takes off the helmet and holds it under his arm, leaving only the non-scarred half of his face in light and furthering the feeling this was happening before the destruction of Starkiller. However, seeing as Hux’s failure was thrown back into his face less than an hour ago, it’s a bit difficult to pretend. 

Eventually, growing impatient, Hux finally says, “Supreme Leader, I assume there’s something you wanted seeing as you practically dragged me in here without my consent. Though I do appreciate your giving at least the illusion I had some control over the decision. I assume you’re here to tell me about your private meeting with Pryde?”

Kylo finally snaps out of whatever daze he was in, looking at Hux as if he just realized he was in the same room, “What? I don’t care about Pryde.” 

Hux raises both his eyebrows, “Very good on you then. Though I’m still at a loss--was there something you wanted to talk about?” 

Kylo stares into Hux’s eyes for a long moment, long enough for Hux to grow uncomfortable and have to actively force himself not to look away, “The Emperor has named Pryde as his Allegiant General for the Final Order.” 

Hux’s expression hardens immediately, a thick sheet of ice covering any expression he may want to make at that revelation, “The Final Order? I believe you may have your own organization’s name confused...” 

Kylo shakes his head, cutting him off, “No, it’s the name of Palpatine’s secret armada. Listen, Hux, there’s so much to tell you and not enough time. And I still don’t even know if I can trust you.” 

At the mention of the armada, Hux’s icy expression falters, his voice hissing from deep in his chest, “Well, it seems I’ve been replaced as commander anyway. What need is there to trust or not trust me? You have your Emperor, you have your commander. What the fuck am I still doing here? Isn’t this the part where you kill me and laugh about it with Sidious and Pryde?” 

Kylo’s expression grows stormier by the second, “It’s not my decision, none of it is my decision anymore. I chose you as my commander. You. Then I went and looked for a Sith who should’ve stayed buried and found out Snoke was just a puppet and I never spoke to Vader even once.” 

Hux looks over Kylo’s shoulder in an attempt to be dismissive, his tone scathing, “Is that all, sir? In light of my demotion, I should get my orders from Allegiant General Pryde.” 

Kylo throws his helmet across the room, hitting the wall hard enough to create an indent, Hux barely even acknowledging the tantrum, “Dammit, Hux, listen to me! This is still the First Order and you are still my Allegiant General.” 

Hux scoffs, taking a few steps back until he reaches to open the door and is Force pulled back to Kylo, just a few inches off the ground. He glares into the Knight’s eyes, “Snoke wasn’t even real, what am I even fighting for? The warped vision of a puppet?” 

Kylo shakes his head and releases his Force hold on Hux, “I don’t--” 

Hux cuts him off, stepping right up into his personal space and tilting his head back, “You’ve lost your mind if you think I’m going to follow some antiquated Emperor from a fallen Empire. I’m offering you my official resignation. Do you accept?” 

Kylo reaches his hand up and grips Hux’s throat with his hand, not choking but still applying pressure, “I do not accept. Hux, you believe in what the First Order stands for, don’t you? What I’ve made it since Snoke died?” 

Hux swallows several times before answering, testing the grip Kylo has on his throat, “What I’ve made it, you mean? All you’ve done is obsess over the girl and find a Sith who was better off staying dead.” 

Kylo, in a rush and finally getting fed up with the verbal sparring, says,“You’re staying until I have no use for you anymore. I don’t care if that means my death or yours. You’ve pledged yourself to my cause and I’m going to make sure you do your job whether you want to or not.”

“Another illusion that I have a choice. Why even bother asking when you just tell afterwards?” Hux’s voice comes out raspy due to the hand on his throat, though the grip is not tight enough to do any real damage. 

Kylo runs his other hand up Hux’s arm, “I asked you to be my commander and you did it without me having to tell you, at least the first time. Sometimes you just need a little push.” 

Hux hisses, suddenly pushing all his weight at Kylo at once until Kylo’s back is against the wall and Hux’s hands grip both his biceps, his tone dripping with sarcasm, “Oh how I’d enjoy the opportunity to push you back, Supreme Leader.”

Kylo laughs once before he pushes Hux back and calls his helmet to himself with the Force, putting it back on before saying, “Go do your job, Allegiant General, and I’ll do mine.” 

With those final words, Kylo exits the room, leaving Hux staring at the place the Knight used to occupy. As soon as the doors close, Hux grabs onto the nearest chair to keep himself from collapsing, bile threatening to make its way up his throat. That was much too close… and didn’t tell Hux anything he could use against his imperial enemies; as soon as he heard of the fallen Emperor’s reappearance, he knew that the loyalists would be after his head. Though Kylo’s seemingly genuine concern about his well being was new…

Breathing through his near panic attack, Hux collapses onto the chair, idly straightening out his collar from its wrinkled state and running a hand through his hair, not caring whether or not he loosens it from it slicked back style. 

How had Kylo not picked up on his inner turmoil? Was he really that distracted? And with Pryde now in charge of the Emperor’s army, where did that leave Hux? He didn’t believe Kylo for a moment that he has no say in who the new commander will be. Now, Hux will be delegated to sitting and looking pretty as the past overtakes the present and future. 

No. No, he’s not willing to sit here and accept his defeat. He committed treason to make Pryde suspicious of him and force him to attempt the coup he’s so obviously planning, but now Hux isn’t sure if it was the right time. And his secondary reason, more personal than anything, of getting Kylo to pay more attention to him and thus the First Order, is going up in smoke as he chases the girl through the galaxy. 

Hux stands and the remaining lights in the room burn out, casting everything in darkness. He laughs, hysteria making its way into his full-bodied guffaws, until he has nothing left to give. 

It’s time he starts taking once again.

Later, when Hux finally makes it to the bridge, Mitaka is there waiting for him, the expression on his face showing his fear plainly despite his pathetic attempt to stay neutral, “Sir, the Knights and a few battalions of Stormtroopers have all made it to Pasaana. They’ve captured the Rebel Wookie and Millennium Falcon and are headed back to the Finalizer.” 

Hux nods, looking around at those most loyal to him before turning back to his Lieutenant, “Where is General Pryde?”

Mitaka pauses, obviously thrown by the seemingly random question before he collects himself, “General Pryde is on the Steadfast, sir.”

All officers receive a message at that moment, their datapads beeping noisily on the otherwise quiet bridge. Hux checks it, clenching his jaw and forcing himself not to react when he reads the message telling him Pryde is on his way to the Finalizer with the traitor, former General Phasma. Mitaka’s shocked gasp only serves to add to the rampant emotions swirling beneath Hux’s exterior. 

Hux immediately shoves his feelings in the box where he keeps the rest of his ill-timed thoughts, forcing himself not to show his concern for his only friend, “I will meet General Pryde and the traitor myself. Send LK-8176 and IO-4381 to meet us.”

With that, Hux marches off the bridge in his usual fashion, glad his greatcoat is there to cover up the tense line of his shoulders. 

How did Pryde catch Phasma and not him? He specifically told Phasma to use his command cylinder and his private line so he would be the one to take the fall if anyone was caught. How did Pryde find out?

Hux meets the transport as it lands in the Finalizer’s hangar, his two troopers, both men who were part of Phasma’s elite guard when she was Captain, already waiting for him. 

Hux bites his cheek as he watches Pryde and his entire entourage escort a handcuffed Phasma to meet them. 

“Allegiant General,” Pryde says, his eye twitching with the effort it takes to show the younger man the respect required to his superior. “I have found ample evidence that former General Phasma is the traitor and has been selling First Order secrets to the Rebellion. Due to the Supreme Leader’s current absence, her punishment now falls to you.” 

Phasma’s eyebrows seem to have a permanent crease between them as she avoids looking at Hux despite his attempt to catch her gaze. Clearing his throat, Hux briskly nods once, instead meeting Pryde’s challenging gaze, “Very good, General.” Without breaking eye contact, Hux orders his troopers to escort Phasma to the prisoner’s barracks. 

“Allegiant General, the Emperor has requested I stay here with you until the Knights return with the rest of the prisoners,” Pryde says, his entourage all turning their helmets Hux’s way as he’s left alone without his followers. 

Hux’s lips twitch, “They should be arriving any moment. Find your way to the guest barracks, I am a very busy man as you know.” 

Hux makes haste to follow his troopers to the prison barracks, taking care to make a series of turns through his cavernous ship to prevent anyone following him. Once sure no one is behind him, he goes directly to Phasma’s cell and turns off the cameras, ordering the troopers to guard the door and not let anyone pass except himself. 

“What the fuck happened?” Hux asks as soon as the doors close behind him, Phasma sitting in an extremely uncomfortable durasteel chair secured to the ground. 

Phasma finally looks up from her shoes, sighing loudly as her gaze hardens, “It was either you or me. I chose.” 

Hux slams his gloved fist on the table, “I told you to choose yourself! I will not have you going down for my own foolish machinations.”

Phasma huffs, clearly annoyed by the fact that her hands were cuffed to the chair’s armrests, “If you say anything, it’ll be both of us going down instead of just one. I believe in the First Order, Armitage. I believe in you. I couldn’t care less about any of the mystics trying to take control or the Knights constantly breathing down our necks. We both know out of the two of us, you’re the only one who stands a chance of actually winning against the Final Order.”

Hux is silent for a long moment, “You want me to turn on the Emperor. You want me to side with the Rebels.” 

Phasma raises both her eyebrows as if she’s talking to a particularly slow child, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You taught me that when I was just another number.”

Hux begins pacing, painfully aware he doesn’t have much time before Pryde becomes even more suspicious and sends his entourage to go looking for the errant Allegiant General. Just the knowledge that Pryde already knows about his upcoming promotion and is just playing with Hux sets his teeth on edge and makes his trigger finger itch more than that fateful day in the throne room.

Finally, Hux stops and leans both his hands on the table, waiting until Phasma meets his eyes, “I will get you out of this if it’s the last thing I do. You have my word.” 

Phasma smiles at that, only a little self-deprecating, “I know you will. For now, you need to think about winning, outmaneuvering Pryde and the Emperor before they destroy our lives’ work. Save the First Order and you’ll save me.” 

Hux nods sharply, putting a hand on Phasma’s shoulder in a show of solidarity, “I put your old guardsmen in charge of you. If anyone so much as breathes in the direction of your cell, I will have them eliminated. Stay strong, Phasma.” 

Hux leaves with haste, not looking back for fear of never leaving. Once outside the cell, he threatens the guards with extreme bodily harm if they even blink away from their duty. Both of them salute their commander and stand at attention as Hux enters the lift. 

Once he arrives on the correct level, he stares at the downed troopers, putting the pieces together and realizing he was never alerted to the prisoners’ arrival. He takes out his blaster immediately, running in the direction of the bodies. He can’t stop thinking that he’s too late, that the Rebels are killing his loyalists, that they’ll never have a chance against the Final Order. 

He stops in his tracks when he sees Pryde walking away from his entourage, all of them aiming blasters at the terrible thorns in his side that just yesterday he would have triumphantly blasted repeatedly in the faces and drank to his success. However, Phasma’s voice runs on repeat in the back of his head until he steels himself and blasts the three guards in quick succession. 

“What the fu--” Poe starts, to which Finn elbows him in the side. Finn stares at the downed troopers and then to Hux as if he can’t quite make sense of what just happened. Chewy growls loudly and begins to threateningly go towards Hux.

Hux aims his blaster at Chewy, causing the wookie to pause. Hair begins to fall into Hux’s eyes as he breathes heavily, the rush of the kill pouring over him like it hasn’t in years. First Snoke and then Kylo decided to keep Hux out of combat for different reasons, though the end result was the same: he had gotten much too bloodthirsty because of it. 

“Yes, I saved your pathetic lives. No, I’m not going to turn around and shoot you just for fun. I need you all to stop and listen to me. Can you do that?” Hux asks, meeting each of their gazes before he holsters his blaster and holds up his hands to show them he’s disarmed himself. 

Now Finn stalks forward, expression pinched, “And why would we do that? Why not just pick up one of their blasters and put an end to all the destruction you’re going to cause?”

Hux straightens into parade rest, “Sure, go ahead and shoot me. Then you’re going to be stuck on my ship with the Emperor’s lackey and we’re all going to have to make room for the Final Order. Think, Finn, you obviously have a brain in that thick skull of yours. You and your Rebellion will only come out of this alive if you have the First Order on your side.” 

Poe gapes at Hux as if he’s never seen a redhead before, “You’re offering an alliance?”

Hux turns his attention to the pilot, making a face as he recognizes that voice from a holocall a year prior to this, “Of course I’m offering an alliance! Have you not been paying any attention at all? The Final Order will wipe both of our organizations out unless we join forces. Now, either accept or not. I’m really rather busy trying to keep Pryde from running his slimy fingers all over my ship.” 

Chewy roars and holds a paw out to him, Hux staring at it before he takes it and shakes. Looking to the other two, “I’m going to assume this means you accept.”

Poe’s expression hardens, “It does, but don’t think this means we like you.”

Hux rolls his eyes, “I don’t care, you’re not exactly my favorite Rebel either. Now, where is the girl?” 

Finn glances at Poe, who eventually nods his head, “Rey went to Kef Bir to find the wayfinder. It’s the only way to find the planet Palpatine has hidden on.” 

Hux nods, “Fine, good, that’ll be useful later. Now, we don’t have much time. Follow me to the bridge and pick up those blasters--I need to take back my fucking ship.” 

Finn and Poe stare at Hux’s back as he leaves the room, Chewy already following him with blaster in hand. Noticing their absence, Chewy roars at them until they pick up the other two and run after the Allegiant General. 

“So who is Pryde?” Poe asks, about to shoot a trooper when Hux smacks the blaster off target and the bolt goes wide. 

“That’s my fucking trooper, do keep up. I’d rather not have my allies killing each other today, thank you,” Hux says before continuing to rush toward the bridge. “And to answer your question, Pryde is an Imperial Loyalist currently second-in-command to the Emperor and trying to get both me and Phasma killed.” 

“Phasma is alive?” Finn asks, surprise evident on his face. They never did go to the trouble of teaching troopers how to control their expressions--that’s what the helmets were for. 

Hux sighs, “Yes. I fished her out of the rubble after you fled the Supremacy and before Holdo crashed into us. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see her old student, even if he did make her lose an eye.” 

Just as Finn is about to respond to that, the doors to the bridge open and Pryde’s entourage, much more than initially brought with Phasma, immediately starts shooting at them. Hux flattens himself against the door and shoots whenever he has a clear shot, the three Rebels and various loyal troopers they picked up along the way doing the same. 

“This is Allegiant General Hux,” Hux yells into his comm, his voice airing on every First Order ship in the fleet, his tone the same as it was that day on Starkiller when he gave his speech. “All those still loyal to the First Order, this is the time to prove it. The Emperor and Pryde only want to destroy us and bring the galaxy back to a time long past. Join me, join the First Order, and help create the order this galaxy so desperately needs, not one solely based on war and power, but on order and peace. Join me!” 

Poe stares at Hux after he finishes, then turns to Finn, “I think I just figured out why you thought following this guy was worth it.” 

Hux scoffs, “Obviously not enough seeing where he ended up.” 

Hux bursts into the room, expertly shooting several of Pryde’s men before ducking behind a console and recharging his gun. He doesn’t notice the trooper sneak up on him until Mitaka’s blade slices through his throat and the body dumps onto the ground beside them. 

“That was a wonderful speech, sir. Very inspiring. I have reports that those loyal to you and the First Order have rebelled on every ship, including the Steadfast,” Mitaka says, watching as Chewy hits the final trooper in the chest and he goes down. 

Hux smirks, smacking Mitaka’s shoulder as he straightens and looks around at the dead bodies, “Of course they have. I didn’t doubt them for a second. Where is Pryde?” 

“He took an escape pod as soon as the rebellion began, sir,” Mitaka answers. 

Another officer runs up to them, having taken a blaster bolt to the arm but otherwise unharmed, “Sir, I have a report from the Knights. They say the Supreme Leader went after the girl to Kef Bir.” 

Finn, having made his way over to Hux and his subordinates during the downtime, gasps, “We have to go help Rey!”

Hux sighs loudly, turning on his heel and glaring at the former Stormtrooper, “You go, Ren will slaughter you where you stand and this alliance will be for nothing. Plus, I need you to go to wherever the Rebellion base is and coordinate with Phasma on the final battle. I know I’ve given you absolutely no reason to trust me and even less to trust Phasma, but we’re what you’ve got. And out of us, I’m the only one with any chance of getting through to Ren.” 

Poe puts his hand on Finn’s shoulder, taking a moment to stare into his eyes before turning back to Hux, “Don’t make us regret this.” 

Hux smiles and flips the loose hair out of his eyes before turning to Mitaka, “Go let Phasma out of her cell. She has the command of the fleet until I get back. Tell her about the alliance and get the Rebels a shuttle out of here.” 

Without another look to his new allies, Hux rushes to his personal shuttle, quickly turning it on and making haste to Kef Bir. As soon as it kicks to lightspeed, he sits back, the events of the last few hours playing through his head as he analyzes them thoroughly. Apparently it was, in fact, the right time to move against Pryde, though the man’s escape is a problem they’ll have to deal with in the near future. The addition of the Rebel/First Order alliance is well worth any wrench Hux has thrown at his position. 

When the second Death Star comes into view, Hux carefully maneuvers his ship to land on a piece of wreckage big enough to hold it. Seeing no sign of the girl, Hux rushes out of the ship to find Kylo talking to seemingly no one and not noticing Hux’s arrival. Upon closer inspection, Hux notices the hole in Kylo’s tunic and pink freshly-healed skin beneath it. Just as Kylo is about to throw his lightsaber into the ocean, Hux grabs his arm and quickly takes it himself, latching it onto his own belt. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Hux yells over the ocean crashing all around them, already getting drenched. However, having grown up on a planet that rained more than the sun was out, the water barely even phases him. “Where is the girl? And where is the ship I painstakingly made you?” 

Kylo looks at him as if he was seeing a ghost, his voice completely wrecked as he yells, “No… no, you’re not dead. Please tell me you’re not dead.”

Hux’s eyebrows furrow at the genuine fear Kylo expresses, “Of course I’m not dead, you warned me and I took appropriate action.” 

Kylo grabs onto Hux’s greatcoat and holds on as if it’s the only thing keeping him standing, “You… what did you do?”

Hux pries Kylo’s hands off his person, the visual change in the man before him throwing him for a loop. He hadn’t seen Kylo look this lost since he dragged him bleeding and half-dead off Starkiller. It’s not his best look if Hux is being honest. 

“I overthrew Pryde’s coup and took control of the First Order. We now have an alliance with the Rebellion. Surprise,” Hux’s tone remains dry throughout the explanation, still trying to figure out exactly why Kylo seems to have changed so much in so little time. “Why were you about to throw your lightsaber into the ocean? You were the one who told me this thing is oh so very important to your mysticism.” 

Kylo pulls Hux into a tight embrace before Hux can even blink, suddenly pressed so tightly against his chest the water from Kylo seeps through to Hux’s undershirt, “I hoped you’d be able to do it, but I wasn’t sure.” 

Hux tries to squirm out of the grip until he realizes its uselessness and relaxes into it, raising his own arms to pat Kylo on the back, “Yes, yes, I’m very good at my job. You’re the one who told me to keep doing it. Ren, we need to go--the Rebellion stands no chance against the Final Order without us.”

Kylo shakes his head and finally releases Hux, “I’m not Ren anymore. I’m Ben Solo.” 

Hux rolls his eyes, “You’ve always been Ben Solo. And Kylo Ren. I hate to be the one to point it out since the extent of this ridiculous mysticism is beyond me, but isn’t balance important? Without balance, there is no order. Darkness doesn’t exist without light and vice-versa.” 

Kylo stares at Hux, “You don’t understand. I killed my father--”

“So did I. Is there a point here?” 

“I need to go to Exegol and help Rey defeat Palpatine. It’s the only way I can redeem myself and honor my mother’s last wishes,” Kylo explains. 

Hux raises both his eyebrows and smacks Kylo as hard as he can across the face. His hand as red as Kylo’s face, he shakes it off and uses his other to poke him in the chest, “There is no fucking ‘I’ here, Ren. You have six Knights to help you. They’re loyal to you, they’ll help defeat the Emperor if you ask nicely, which luckily seems to be possible seeing as you’re now Ben Solo or whatever ridiculous name you were born with. I’m going to go lead the aerial assault and you are going to have seven helpers to defeat the Emperor if the girl decides to help. Now fucking call them before I do it for you and get on the ship before we drown on this backwater planet.” 

Kylo, holding a hand up to his cheek and staring at Hux in awe, “I’ll do that, but you need to get us and the fleet to Exegol now or there won’t be a galaxy left to save.” 

Hux smiles beautifically, backing away from Kylo towards his ship, “As you know, saving the galaxy one chaotic mess at a time is a major kink of mine.” 

Kylo follows, smiling back as they settle into the pilot and copilot seats, comming his Knights on their way to Exegol while Hux sends the coordinates to both the First Order and Rebellion fleets. 

“Hux, I want to thank you,” Kylo says after they’re both done with their respective tasks, his Knights having agreed to meet him there. “I’ve never been respectful towards you and I realize I should have appreciated you more before now.” 

Hux glances at Kylo, expression twisted in discomfort, “Quit being nice to me, you’re making me uncomfortable. And if you think quid pro quo applies here, you are sorely mistaken. Unlike you, I’m not a Rebel sympathizer now, I’m just aligned with them until the bigger threat is eliminated.” 

Kylo smiles to himself, ducking his head, “Sure, Hux. I never expected you to change, it’s kind of who you are. Annoyingly steadfast and immovable. Reminds me of the stories my mother used to tell me as a child about when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.”

Hux stares out into the stars passing by them as they grow ever-closer to their destination, sighing when he realizes this may be his last chance. He can’t quite find the humor in the fact that he can create a speech strong enough to form a rebellion within the First Order in seconds but can’t quite manage to talk to the man sitting next to him. They’ve never been able to talk without one of them breaking something or snapping at the other. 

Finally, he says, “Armitage.” 

Kylo looks at Hux like he’s the crazy one who was talking to himself, “What?” 

“My first name. The one I deleted from all the databases and told no one except Phasma. My name is Armitage Hux.” He rubs his thumb across the control, biting his lip as he second guesses himself several times during the long silence, feeling Kylo’s eyes boring into the side of his head. 

Kylo’s lips twitch as he attempts to keep a straight face, “Figures you’d have a name as pretentious as Armitage.”

Hux crosses his arms and scoffs, “Figures that’s what you’d get out of me throwing you a proverbial bone.” 

Kylo smiles softly at Hux, the expression looking odd on his face with the scar bisecting it. Not noticing the look his companion is giving him, Hux brings them down on Exegol, noticing the Knights’ ships next to Rey’s. 

Just as Kylo is about to exit the ship, Hux grabs his arm and pulls him back, resting the lightsaber in his hand and looking up to him, “You’ll need to defend yourself even if you’re Ben Solo. Listen, I need you to promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to make it out of there whether you need to use the Dark or Light to do it. Fuck the Jedi, fuck the Sith. You can’t cut yourself in half any more than I can.” 

Kylo looks at the lightsaber and then up to Hux, running the thumb of his free hand along Hux’s cheekbone, “I promise, but only if you promise to come back to me, my Allegiant General. Now, go and lead your new fleet, defeat Pryce, do whatever you have to do to win.” 

Hux nods and pushes Kylo to go, turning to the pilot seat and taking off as soon as Kylo’s feet hit the ground, watching Hux’s ship until it disappears over the horizon and his Knights all come out to meet him. 

Once Hux makes it back to the Finalizer, he immediately orders them the rest of the way to Exegol, learning the Rebellion has already begun their assault against the Final Order’s armada. He looks around at everyone gathered--his immediate subordinates and the holoprojections of the commanders of individual ships. The silence before the storm stretches on for seconds, minutes, hours, before the Dreadnaught comes to a halt and immediately gets fired upon. 

“About time you showed up!” Poe yells over the comms, causing Hux to smirk and shake his head. 

“Had to pick up the child from daycare. Now, this is the plan…” Hux begins to explain how best to combat Pryde, having studied his tactics and strategies since he was in the Academy--one of the good things about studying Imperial heroes in their curriculum. 

With the full might of the First Order and Rebellion alliance, they’re just barely able to stave off the Final Order’s advances, though they’re clearly outnumbered. Hux is beside himself, hyper focused as he studies the layout of Exegol and gives orders and generally tries to win this thrice damned battle while Kylo and his allies supposedly fight the Emperor. 

“That’s Pryde ship!” Finn yells through the comms, sending the coordinates to the entire fleet. 

Hux, having been about to point out the same thing due to his strategy and tactical knowledge, furrows his brow, “How did you know that?” As far as he knows, FN-2187 had some of the lowest test scores ever to come out of the program. There’s no way he was able to pick it up in the year he’s been gone. 

“Yeah, Finn, how did you know that?” Poe’s voice resonates through the comms, this seeming to not have been the first time he’s asked something of the sort. Hux sighs, there really isn’t enough time for petty little squabbles in the middle of the most important battle in the history of the galaxy. 

“Remember when I was going to tell Rey something earlier?” 

“Yeah, and you wouldn’t tell me no matter how many times I asked?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m using the Force…”

Hux slams his hand against his forehead, sharing a look with the holoprojection of Phasma, “That’s enough mysticism, thank you.” He turns on the comm to his troops and orders them to all focus on the aforementioned ship when thousands of reinforcements arrive, Hux completely frozen for a moment when he notices the makes and models of various First Order loyal system ships in addition to Rebellion loyalists. 

“I sent a distress call to the First Order systems, Allegiant General,” Phasma says, clearly amused at Hux’s surprise. “Used your name. I guess more than just the military are loyal to you, sir.” 

Hux quickly snaps out of it, a small smile on his lips as he connects to the comms of the new ships as well, now commanding an armada of his own against Pryde’s. 

The thrill is short-lived, however, when the Force lightning hits all of Hux’s forces and renders them powerless, one being shot down after the other as his people try to bring the power back on to no avail. Hux holds onto the table, raising off the floor with the speed at which they’re falling out of the sky. 

Surprisingly, his last moments don’t include a holofilm of his greatest hits. Instead, they include Kylo’s voice screaming ‘no’ in his head until the lightning stops and the power comes back on just before the Finalizer would have crashed into the ground. 

Looking out the viewport, Hux sees Pryde’s ship explode, smiling to himself as he realizes his maintenance worker Stormtrooper just killed the Final Order’s Allegiant General. Apparently FN-2187 wasn’t completely useless after all. 

Everyone around him begins to cheer as the last of the armada is destroyed, though he’s already off the bridge and inside his shuttle when the last ship hits the planet. He immediately begins to fly it down to where he left Kylo, the man’s scream inside his head echoing over and over. They won, Hux kept his promise. Kylo better have kept his own or Hux will be absolutely pissed. 

Running inside, he pauses when he sees all six Knights of Ren electrocuted to death in front of Palpatine’s corpse. That answers the question of why Kylo was so distraught… 

“What are you doing here?” Rey calls, tone unyielding as she holds her lightsabers out at him despite being clearly exhausted. 

Kylo, who until this moment was hidden behind the throne, uses the Force to deactivate Rey’s lightsabers, amusement plain on his face at Hux’s arrival despite his eyes remaining haunted from watching all his Knights sacrifice themselves for him, “Calm down, Rey. Armitage is with me.” 

Hux sneers at him and glances at the girl, “Just because you know my name doesn’t give you the right to use it. I told you that in confidence!” 

Kylo laughs as he makes his way to Hux, “Must I tell everyone to calm down? I feel the roles have been severely reversed…”

Hux takes out his blaster and aims it at Kylo, not paying any mind to Rey, “Does this mean I get to start with the needless destruction?” 

Kylo frowns, “How many times must I tell you I’m Ben Solo now?”

Hux raises an eyebrow, the corners of his lips twitching, “Does that count as you dying? Does that mean I’m Supreme Leader now? 

Kylo rolls his eyes as he finally comes to stand right in front of Hux, that soft look from earlier returning in plain view now, “You kept your promise.” 

Hux gesticulates with the blaster, “Of course I kept my promise! Pryde was an idiotic Imperial living in the past using all the same tactics from decades ago! It’s your promise being kept that’s the surprising thing here!”

Kylo raises his hands and runs both his thumbs over Hux’s cheekbones, causing Hux to flush and try to squirm out of his grip. However, Kylo just moves with him, leaning forward and whispering in his ear, “So what will you do now that you’re Supreme Leader?” 

Hux freezes, though Kylo’s breath on his ear causes him to shudder as he pulls back to look Kylo in the eye, “You’re just giving the First Order to me? Why in the galaxy would you do that?” 

Kylo rests his head against Hux’s, still smiling that soft smile as his Allegiant General panics at the new leadership despite it being himself the power is going to. Hux tries to find some kind of lie, though no matter how many times he analyzes what Kylo has said, he can’t find one. 

“You took it from me, more like. I can read the minds of all the First Order’s loyalists and they didn’t come here for me, Hux. They’re here because they believe in you.” Kylo finally locks eyes with Hux, cradling his head in his hands, “I believe in you.” 

Kylo leans in and presses his lips to Hux’s. Surprised, Hux drops his blaster and puts his hand on Kylo’s chest to push him away, though he ends up clutching the material of his shirt and begins reciprocating the kiss. 

“Um, guys?” Rey says from behind them, clearing her throat several times until Hux drags himself away from Kylo and glares at her. 

“You do realize you don’t have to stay here staring at us, right? I get it, you’re a Jedi and a Palpatine, yada yada, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a voyeur,” Hux flicks his loose bangs out of his eyes and crosses his arms. 

“I’m, um, sorry?” Rey says, clearly uncomfortable as she turns on her heel and rushes out of the room. 

“You don’t have to be so rude to her, Hux. We are bonded, you know. Might come in handy in the future if you and her don’t have such a tense relationship.” 

Hux rolls his eyes skyward and turns back to Kylo, “It worked on you, didn’t it?” 

Hux picks up his blaster and walks away from Kylo towards his ship, Kylo staring after him as he realizes what that means, “You… your antagonism meant you liked me? You’re the most infuriating man I’ve ever met!” 

“It’s all part of my considerable charm.” 

“Of course this means I want to stop the fighting. I propose we form a treaty like the one the Republic refused to make with the Federation: both of us may be separate with our own governments. Neither of us make a move against the other and we may live in symbiosis. I’m sure Allegiant General Phasma can draft it by tomorrow. Are you willing?” Hux stands at perfect military rest as he speaks to the holoprojections of Generals Finn and Poe, Kylo and Rey both present as well despite their silence. 

Finn and Poe share a look, having a seemingly full conversation with mere subtle movements of their persons. Finally, Poe shakes his head, “We are in agreement, Supreme Leader. I look forward to getting that first draft.” 

With that, Hux says his farewells and ends the conference, turning to Kylo. Noticing his odd expression, he raises an eyebrow, “What?” 

Kylo walks right up to him, eyes dark with his passion as he wraps his arms around Hux, both his red lightsaber and new blue lightsaber hitting Hux’s waist, “You’re just extremely attractive when you’re ending wars and bringing order to the galaxy. Even if you are a treasonous bastard.” 

Hux’s other eyebrow moves upwards to meet its match, “Says the man who killed his successor. Plus, I’m always bringing order to the galaxy. It’s my modus operandi.” 

“It would seem we’re quite the pair, Armitage,” Kylo grins, cutting off Hux’s protests by pressing their mouths together.


End file.
